Cox: My new-look Bees will be no soft touch

Bracknell Bees coach Gareth Cox is adamant that his side have no need for a ‘goon’ on the ice, and believes there are enough hard-hitting British players in the squad to prevent the more skillful imports being targeted.

Bracknell Bees coach Gareth Cox is adamant that his side have no need for a ‘goon’ on the ice, and believes there are enough hard-hitting British players in the squad to prevent the more skillful imports being targeted.

Bees fans have been airing their fears that Cox’s new-look side, which includes five players promoted from the ENL team Bracknell Hornets, lack muscle, and will be easy targets for some of the EPIHL’s more aggressive teams.

Young and inexperienced at this level, many of the ex-Hornets are also something of an unknown quantity to the majority of Bees fans, but Cox has been quick to defend the physical qualities of his team.

There were certainly no Bees willing to shy away from a physical battle last season, with Ashley Calvert, Nicky Watt and Jaroslav Cesky just some of the players who dropped their gloves, while defenceman Shane Moore is no stranger to fisticuffs on the ice.

And even if the fighting side of the game is diminishing, Cox is confident that his players will prove they are no soft touch, and dares any of their rival teams to underestimate them.

“Have we got an out-and-out tough guy or fighter – no – but hockey is changing all the time and it’s not needed anymore,” said the Bees head coach.

“There weren’t many fights in the EPL last year and there’s no point in having someone out there to fight and do nothing else when you are working to such a small budget.

“If you had thousands and thousands of pounds to spend on the wages each week then maybe, but everyone will look out for each other in this squad.

“It’s not a big fighting league – the referees are cracking down on it and the penalties for it are harsh.

“But we still have Nicky Watt and if you look around the league at the ‘tough guys’ like (Andre) Payette (of Manchester Phoenix) and the Greener brothers (Adam and Joe, both at Slough Jets) they only had a couple of fights each last season.

“Fighting is still part of the game, we’ll never get away from that, but it’s not as big anymore.

“Arranged fights don’t happen anymore so no I’m not concerned about it at all.

“Teams will be in for a shock if they think that we’ll be a soft touch.

“At least two or three of the players that I have brought up (from Hornets) really know how to handle themselves.

“However, if, in the first couple of weeks of the season we are getting bullied, I’ll address it, but I really don’t think that is going to be the case.”

Cox also suggested that he will be looking to get more pre-season preparation in before the campaign starts in mid-September.

Bees played just two friendly games before their season started in Slough, and Cox, in an ideal world will be looking to get in a few more than that.

He is also looking to hold a training camp with the squad in August.

“It will be good to get another two or three games in on top of that and start a bit earlier,” he said.

“We need to give ourselves the best possible chance for when the season starts.”